Saudi Arabia has discovered new oil and natural gas reserves near the Ghawar field in the eastern portion of the kingdom 240 kilometers southeast of Riyadh, reports said Tuesday.

The discovery, which was made by the state-owned Saudi Aramco, is the ninth in the eastern province, Middle East Newsline (MENL) reported.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi was quoted by the agency as saying “a well completed in June now produces 1,100 barrels of crude and 1.6 million cubic feet of natural gas daily.”

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said Aramco would continue testing in an attempt to determine the reserves of the new find.

Saudi Arabia plans to spend 1.5 billion dollars on drilling in 2002 to increase oil and gas production capacity, despite the decline in crude prices, AFP said, citing a report by the Petroleum Intelligence Weekly.

State oil company "Saudi Aramco is planning to spend as much as 1.495 billion dollars on its development drilling budget in 2002, an increase of almost 50 percent over its 2001 drilling budget," the New York-based newsletter said – Albawaba.com